In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical "Shem"‎, translated as "name") is first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages.

This family includes the ancient and modern forms of; Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Ge'ez, Maltese, Canaanite/Phoenician, Amorite, Eblaite, Ugaritic, Sutean, Chaldean, Mandaic, Ahlamu, Amharic, Tigre and Tigrinya among others.As language studies are interwoven with cultural studies, the term also has come to describe the extended cultures and ethnicities, as well as the history of these varied peoples as associated by close geographic and linguistic distribution.